Saturday, December 4, 2010

The Perfect Prey-James Andrus

Detective James Stalling is in a very bad place at this time in his life. His then sixteen years old daughter disappeared three years ago, which leaves him to wonder if she still lives, and he is separated from his wife. John also remains raw from his last case involving the capture of a nasty serial killer (see The Perfect Woman). The last thing he needs at this time is another high profile investigation, but he cannot say no to a young adult or child missing person’s case.

The predator selects blonde hair blue eyed females who are in Florida during mid-term break. He gives them ecstasy and has sex with her before The Other kills her. When college student Allie Marsh vanishes, her mother knows people in high places so the Jacksonville police department makes her disappearance a top priority. John and his partner Patty Levine learn of several young women with ecstasy in their system who were found dead. They realize these females did not commit suicide or overdosed. They conclude a predatory serial killer is on the prowl, but knows how to hide by blending into the youth scene.

James Andrus has written a very exciting police procedural that for the most part leaves readers breathless with the faster than the speed of light story line. Fans will feel they are part of the investigate team as they will feel the frustrations of the lead cops; although that also leads to some repetitiveness on the part of how the detectives feel, and to a lesser degree the euphoria of the killer, who is front and center in several chapters. This is a winning thriller.